


85mm

by Lycoria, Mool



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Collab, Fluff, M/M, Makeup Artist Hunk, Model AU, Model Lance, Model and CEO badass Allura, Modeling, Photographer Shiro, model keith, smut I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-17 09:31:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8139139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lycoria/pseuds/Lycoria, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mool/pseuds/Mool
Summary: Shiro reached his hand out, gesturing for a handshake before he found the words he meant to say lodged in his throat. It wasn’t the angry frown of the model that intimidated him, but more like the way his heart leapt at the sight of Keith that made Shiro stop.A Photog!Shiro and Model!Keith AU by Lycoria and Mool





	1. Tight-Lipped and Short of Breath

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this first chapter. This was an idea of Mool's that I completely and utterly RAN AWAY WITH, so we decided to collab with each other and make this story as a series of one-shots. We'll be taking turns to write episodic story lines for this Model AU. Either way, hope you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Lycoria

The sound of an alarm awoke him, politely informing him that it was now nine o'clock, his time to get up.

With a grunt, he pressed the glowing white screen, silencing it. The room was plunged back into a comfortable darkness, one familiar enough to make him resist the need to rise from bed.

It was another day for Takashi Shirogane.

Reluctantly he laid there, unwilling to leave the warm shelter of his bed. He dozed for a moment before accepting that he eventually would have to start his day.

Shiro stumbled to the bathroom and flicked on the light switch, the brightness momentarily overwhelming him. He winced as he made his way to the bathroom sink, watching as the water sputtered out of its spout, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

Eventually he did look into the mirror, noticing the white shock of hair at his forehead was getting just a tad bit long. The scene he looked at once again, was easier to look at. Today and tomorrow, and as long as he lived, he realized, the scar that crossed horizontally over his nose, the angry red that had faded into a subtle pink, and then the whiteness of an old wound, was something he’d eventually get over.

Maybe.

He looked at his right hand that held his toothbrush, methodically cleaning the back of his molars. A spiderweb of red and white raised scars mottled his skin, ones that he couldn’t ignore. Even still, they remained the same, just like the one across his face.

It was just another day.

 

* * *

 

_Bzzt_

_“Hello, Shirogane Studios, this is Pidge Gunderson speaking.”_

Shiro huffed, his finger still hovering over the intercom. The street was busy with cars on their commute, obscuring the crackling voice over the speaker. “Pidge, it’s just me. Let me in, I forgot my keys.”

 _“Me?”_ The tinny voice sounded alarmed, _“I’ve heard of bad guys that use that tactic. I’ve been told to ignore people like you by my wonderful boss Takashi Shirogane, famous photographer. I must ask you to leave.”_

“Pidgeeee come on.” Shiro hated how his response was almost a whine, “You can see me on security cam, just buzz me in.”

_“Like I said, I don’t know a ‘Me’”_

“I’m your boss.”

Silence was a reply.

“No matter how much I owe Matt, I can and will fire you.”

 _“You wouldn’t dare.”_ Came Pidge’s scandalized voice.

Shiro stepped back, making a big show to shrug his shoulders and drop his arms in a defeated stance, knowing she would be watching the video feed.

After a prolonged moment he heard the door give a feeble buzzing noise and he pulled the door open, stepping inside. He traveled to the fifth floor on the elevator, and with a ding the doors slid open, giving him full view of Pidge sitting at the receptionist's desk with her signature toothy smirk.

“That’s the second time this week.” She said, taking a jab at him. “I’m going to start having to charge you for forgetting your office keys.”

“You’re my assistant Pidge,” He said with an exasperated sigh, “I don’t think it works that way.”

“Then give me a raise.”

The comment resulted in cocked eyebrow. “You should be glad I’m giving you pay in the first place.”

“But I’m such a fantastic assistant.”

“You’re also an intern.”

Shiro gave Pidge a grin, knowing he had won the little dispute. She rolled her eyes in response, “Yeah yeah, I know, I should be happy I’m even getting any money, can’t blame me for trying, but _anyways_ , do you want to know what’s on your agenda today?”

He leaned against the desk, ready to listen into the photo appointments for the day. The glow of the computer screen reflected against her glasses as she pulled up his calendar. A gentler smile rested on Shiro’s face as he watched his best friend’s little sister. Sure they had their silly debates, but it was nothing but good-natured. He had to admit, when she wasn’t trying to be snarky, she was incredibly efficient in every assignment he’s ever given her.

“Looks like all you’ve got today is a model named Keith.” She finished after looking for a moment, double checking to see if there was anything else on the agenda.

Shiro’s confusion was clear on his face, “Keith… who?”

“Just Keith is all I got. Says he’s a model from Altea Agency.”

At the mention of the modeling agency he relaxed, remembering that this was supposed to be a new lead model of Allura’s. She was a good friend of his, and he knew that she wouldn’t be sending this single named model without a good recommendation. Pidge, on the other hand still wore an expression scrunched up in speculation.

“Well it should be no big then,” Shiro said as he walked to the glass door behind the receptionist desk, a clear view into the photo studio. “I’ll just ask Allura about the details later.”

Pidge was already furiously typing away at the keyboard, distracted by some inner revelation. With a chuckle, he decided to leave her at it.

The studio was a remodeled warehouse space, the majority of it painted a clean white with smooth, poured concrete flooring. When he had moved into the place, he decided to keep the majority of the original space untouched, opting for the open floor plan.

The sound of his footsteps echoed as he looked at the sunshine filtering in from the large windows on his left. At the center of the room was a small seating area, where he usually threw his jacket on the black leather couch.

“Oh, there he is! Shiro, we prepared the clothes for today’s session.”

At the back of the room was the makeup and dressing area, Hunk and Shay giving him friendly waves. Hunk stepped forward, closing the distance between him and Shiro as he approached. “That Allura is something, isn’t she?”

Behind Hunk, Shay was busily inspecting the fabric material of one of the dark red button up shirts. “The quality of materials is amazing.” She breathed, delighted.

“This is all of her new line of clothing right?” Shiro looked over the clothes on the rack. “She’s been doing a lot to assert herself as the new CEO.”

He noticed that all the colors were somewhat muted and a bit darker than what he knew Allura personally preferred. The fall men’s line seemed like a distinct breakaway from what her fans knew her as, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride for his old friend.

“If this is what all of her new line looks like, I can’t wait to see what her lead model is going to be.” Hunk responded, excitedly. “How do you think I should do the makeup?”

Before he could answer, Shiro felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out, the screen notifying him that he had a text from Pidge.

_Just Keith has arrived._

“Hold that thought Hunk. Why don’t we figure out what would be best when we actually meet him? He’s here.” Shiro began to walk back to the front desk, Hunk nodding in agreement before turning back to cleaning and prepping his makeup brushes.

Shiro pulled the glass door open, surveying the room to find the model. It really didn’t take more than a split second to see Keith, casually leaning against the front desk, his back turned towards Shiro and elbows propped against the sleek metal counter. Pidge, on the other hand, had a strangely smug look on her face, but he chose to deal with her later.

“Hey… Keith, right?” He said, his voice low and amicable as to not startle him.

The young man whirled around. At full height he was just a bit shorter than Shiro himself, but definitely looked wirier. His black unkempt hair framed his face, dark purple eyes and thick brows that seemed to be screwed into a permanent scowl.

Shiro reached his right hand out, gesturing for a handshake before he found the words he meant to say lodged in his throat. It wasn’t the angry frown that intimidated him, but more like the way his heart leapt at the sight of him that made Shiro stop.

Dark lashes fluttered, looking Shiro up and down in a way that would make anyone sweat. Finally the frown relaxed as his opened his mouth. “Yeah I’m Keith. You’re...Takashi… Shirogane?”

“R-right, that’s me.” Shiro responded, surprised that the boy’s voice was smooth and quiet, polite even. “I heard you recently signed onto Altea Agency?”

“Yup.” Keith cocked his head to the side, and Shiro didn’t fail to notice how even the bland florescent lighting of the front room managed to highlight the curve of his jawline.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Keith.” He further extended his arm, a second attempt at a handshake. “Allura must have a lot of faith in you to make you the face of her new line.”

Keith made no move to take his hand, and Shiro felt cold realization in his stomach like a rock. Of course he wouldn’t want to shake his hand, burned and scarred as it was. Suddenly he felt a cool hand slip into his, shaking with a firm grip.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Keith replied, his voice even quieter now as he pulled his hand away.

Shiro smiled even as Keith’s face returned to the sullen expression from before. “Good… well, come with me Keith and I’ll show you your stylist and makeup artist for today.”

He ushered Keith into the open studio, talking him through the layout as they headed towards Hunk and Shay. Keith listened attentively, his eyes locked onto Shiro’s in the same unnerving way. As they walked under the sunshine pouring from the windows, Shiro was able to see the way the light fell on Keith’s face in varying angles. He took the effort to take note of what seemed best, but found himself confused when he realized every angle looked just as good.

Finally they stopped near the makeup table and clothing racks, Hunk’s face in an open expression of awe and Shay shyly pulling clothes from their hangers, stealing a glance or two whenever she could. Hunk was the first to approach the pair, hand out for another handshake, sputtering in his characteristic way when excited. “Keith right? I’m Hunk and I’ll be doing your makeup today, but man I have to say you’re absolutely _gorgeous_. I can’t believe Allura managed to get you while you were still unheard of!”

Keith, in contrast, made no motion to take the hand, instead a pregnant pause ensued before he gave Hunk a taciturn nod. The larger young man laughed sheepishly in response before taking Shay’s arm, almost quite literally pulling her out from hiding behind the racks. “Well, why don’t I also introduce your fantastic stylist and my wonderful girlfriend, Shay?”

Shay seemed to wilt under the weight of Hunk’s praise, hands nervously adjusting the two horned buns on either side of her head. “It is… very nice to meet you Keith. I am sure that you will be a pleasure to work with today.”

To his credit, Keith gave her another nod, but his face was less of a scowl. Shiro watched the trio’s interactions, desperately hoping the shoot wouldn’t fall apart in a matter of minutes.

“Keith, are you…” Shay’s lilting voice was hesitant. “Are you okay with going through my selection today? I would think it best to make sure that you are also pleased with my choices.”

The Shirogane Studio employees all watched with bated breath for their model’s response. Finally Keith shrugged, seemingly nonchalant with her inquiry. “Sure, but I think you probably have better sense than I do as to what would look good.”

“Al-alright! Regardless, I will tailor my options to suit your preferences as well.” She gestured him towards the rack reserved for the clothes that she had selected, both Shiro and Hunk sighing with relief as the two of them walked away.

“Not exactly a charmer… is he?” Hunk muttered a little worriedly. “I thought it was impossible that he hadn’t modeled before, but maybe it’s the way that he acts that’s been holding him back. But still, gotta say Allura really has an eye for models, you know?”

“H-huh?” Shiro answered, realized he had been distracted by Keith’s expressions as he looked over Shay’s options. “Yeah I guess you’re right… but I don’t think he’s that bad… is he?”

“Oh ho ho…” A little smile had appeared on Hunk’s face, “I see what’s going on. Don’t worry Shiro, you’re my boss so your secret’s safe with me.”

A blush creeped onto his face. “What? What are you talking about?” Shiro’s voice was a bit louder than he would have liked.

“Notthingggg.” Came Hunk’s sing-songy voice. “Why don’t you get your equipment all set up while we get him ready?”

His face was still red as he turned away, heading back to the photoset to busy himself with test shots. As he bent over the computer placed closely next to the camera of the set, he allowed to let his mind wander. It had to be the way that Keith looked at him, a piercing gaze that seemed to be able to see straight into Shiro’s soul. He laughed, almost embarrassed at his own dramatic thoughts.

Shiro had seen plenty of stunning models during his time in the industry. Even still, none of them were like Keith, and it left him feeling confused and a little giddy.

With the setup done, he found some extra time to lounge on the leather couch, flipping distractedly through the magazines placed on the coffee table. Pidge had managed to leave an issue of one of her comic books into the stack, and so he read through pages of brightly colored superheroes duking it out.

He had just gotten to the part where the good guys felt they had no other option but to combine to unleash their ultimate weapon when he felt a hand tap his shoulder. It was Hunk, giving him a thumbs up to say that they were ready. Shiro turned around, one arm draped over the back of the couch, to see Shay and Hunk’s handiwork.

Keith stood a little ways behind Hunk in fitted black jeans and the red button up Shay had been marveling at earlier, his face as impassive as ever. His unruly hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, the bangs styled to hang over one eye.

“I can't see.” Was his single comment.

Shiro, on the other hand, hated the way his breath hitched at the sight of Keith. He noticed that Hunk had done as little as possible to alter the natural look of his face, a decision Shiro had to agree with. The cheekbones and jawline had been defined, the eyelashes and eyelids darkened to heighten his already existing aggressive aura.

“Everything looks great.” Shiro said, trying to be as unbiased as he could in his comment. “Why don’t we head over to the set and see how it looks behind camera?”

Keith stepped a little unsteadily onto the white backdrop, as if worried about dirtying it with his black lace up boots. While comfortable before, there was a noticeable shift in his demeanor, as if uncertain with his own movements.

“Keith… have you ever done this before?” Shiro asked, a little surprised.

He shook his head, a light dusting of red on his cheeks. “Not like this… I’ve posed in art college before, but that was just for sketches.”

_Oh._

Shiro felt inordinately excited to be his first photographer, which felt ridiculous even to him. Of course Keith had been photographed by others before, it was almost impossible in this day and age. Even still, there was a strange thrill to be the first professional, a feeling he forced himself to put at the back of his mind.

“That’s no issue. At least you've posed before, it's not too different in front of a camera.” Shiro readied the camera, adjusting the focus. “Why don't you just give me something you're comfortable with?”

The other young man looked lost in thought for a moment before shifting his stance, hands in his pockets and legs shoulder-length apart. He gradually tilted his head upwards but lowered his gaze, dark violet under a fringe of lashes. “How’s this?”

Shiro found it undeniably difficult to ignore his heart hammering in his chest. The same stare he had been getting was only magnified in intensity through the lens of his camera. Before Keith had seemed intimidating, but now the look was a smoulder, mysterious and elusive.  

“That looks good, Keith.” He managed to say, “Feel free to do some other poses, whatever you think looks best.”

Keith nodded, turning his body and head sideways while curving his back, yet his eyes remained steadily on Shiro, now peeking from the corner of his eye. He cycled through several different poses but still maintained the eye contact, starting to make Shiro’s mouth feel dry.

He wasn’t the type to have delusions or assumptions of any sort. In fact, dependable and practical were labels most frequently assigned to Shiro. He was the one you could rely on in times of trouble to give you solid advice with a rational mind. Even so, he felt the creeping sense, a nagging feeling, that Keith was purposely watching him, the way that he was also watching Keith.

“So for your next pose, why don’t you face the camera frontwards?” Shiro suggested after Keith had exhausted his usual options. The model nodded, turning to face him.

“Alright, now I want you to lower your head and put one hand behind your neck.” Again, Keith did as he was told, waiting for more suggestions.

Shiro stopped for a moment. The pose was fine but somewhat lacking impact, needing just a little something extra to stand out from the other hundreds of shots he’d already taken. “Okay so, the next thing I’m going to ask is a pretty standard thing, but if you don’t feel comfortable with it, you can go ahead and skip it.”

He waited, watching the other young man give him a curt nod. “Would you… be okay with lifting your shirt up just a little with your hand? Just let it ride up a bit.”

Without hesitation Keith lowered his left hand, gradually pulling the shirt up until it was up around his waist, revealing the visible abs and white skin. Still, the unbreakable purple gaze remained, peering back into the camera.  

“Like... this?”

Shiro could have sworn his voice was light and breathy.

“Y-yeah…” He choked out, swallowing thickly. It was absurd, he had seen much more skin on many more models, but the way his heart squeezed was almost physically painful.

Shiro took a few more shots in different angles before finally lowering the camera, noticing that he had to actually stop to breathe. “Alright… I think that’s about good for today.”

“That’s it?” Keith almost sounded disappointed.

“Yeah, I think Allura just wanted a test run to sample the outfits and see how you’d do.” Shiro rubbed the back of his neck as he cycled through the photos on the screen of his camera. “I’m sure she’ll like them though, you look fantastic.”

“Oh.” There again was the slight blush on his cheeks. His brows were furrowed, but he looked pleased.

“It was really good working with you, so hopefully we’ll see each other again?” Shiro smiled as Hunk and Shay approached, asking Keith to come back with them to change and clean his makeup off.

He was reticent as ever and didn’t give Shiro a response, but the photographer thought he could see a ghost of a smile on Keith’s face as he turned away.

 

* * *

 

“Takashi?”

Shiro leapt from the black leather couch when he heard someone call his first name, dropping Pidge’s comic book. As he turned, he saw Keith, eyebrows raised ever so slightly in surprise, his black hair down around his shoulders once again. He still looked awfully good even without makeup, Shiro thought to himself.

“Hey Keith…!” He rubbed at his nose awkwardly, “No need to call me Takashi, just Shiro is fine. Everyone calls me that.”

Keith’s mouth turned downwards into a doubtful frown. “Okay… Shiro.”

“Yeah, just like that.” A silence ensued between the two. “W-well, you look ready to go! You want to head back to the front room?”

Another quiet nod, and Keith began to follow behind Shiro wordlessly towards the glass door. Courteously, Shiro opened it for him, not failing to notice the sideways glance back from Keith. As they approached Pidge, her smug look from earlier looked even more distinctively pronounced.   

They stood there as Keith waited for the elevator to reach the fifth floor, his mouth twisted in a way as if he wanted to say something. A familiar ding rang in the lobby and metal doors slid open. Without warning, Keith thrust his right hand out at Shiro. “It was nice working with you.”

His face was turned away, like he was too shy to look, and for once Shiro didn’t feel locked in Keith’s eyes. He cheerfully grasped the boy’s hand, a wide grin on his face. “Like I said, you too. I’ll see you soon Keith.”

Shiro watched as he stepped into the elevator and the doors shut, watching the floor numbers as they lit up going down.  

"So when are you guys gonna..." Pidge asked from behind him. He turned around to look at his assistant questioningly as she made a ring with the fingers of her right hand before unceremoniously sticking the index finger of her left into it, twisting for added effect.  
"Pidge!" Shiro yelped, face turning a bright shade of red. He nervously scratched the back of his neck, "what makes you think that? He barely said more than two sentences to me."

She pushed her glasses up, a knowing glint in her eye.

"Oh no, trust me." Her grin was conspiratory as she leaned into her desk. "I know Keith from Garrison Art Uni. If he really wasn't interested, it would have been like you didn't exist."

Shiro couldn't really say there was a palatable difference between what had occurred and what Pidge was describing.  Was even a glance from those purple eyes, as enigmatic and stunning as they were, really that significant?

"Look, I know you and I know him, and the sexual tension between the two of you was almost shameful. Totally, absolutely gross." Pidge concluded with a self-satisfied smirk.

“I’m not going to deal with this right now.” Shiro attempted to deflect the comment, pulling out his phone from his pocket. “I’m going to call Allura and tell her how today went.”

Pidge hit her tiny hands against the counter. “Ooh! Speaker phone. I want to hear how she managed to get him to agree to model for her.”

He rolled his eyes but complied, and the two of them listened as the dial tone buzzed.

 _“Hello? Shiro?”_ Allura’s distinct accent was heard on the other end of the line.

“Hey Allura. Just wanted to let you know that Keith just left and the shoot went great. Hope your day’s been going well.” Shiro answered, the tone of his voice warm.

He heard a sigh of relief. _“Oh thank goodness. I wanted him to sign to our agency badly, but you were the only photographer he wanted to work with.”_  

“Wh-What?” Shiro watched as Pidge slapped a hand over her mouth to hold back a triumphant guffaw.

_“Well, long story short, I got recommendations from Pidge’s art college. Leads for potential models. Keith was absolutely perfect but I couldn’t get two words out of him. He was all squinty eyed as I tried to persuade him, but suddenly something seemed to click and he asked if I knew you.”_

Shiro was speechless for a moment, confused and also a bit flattered. “How did he know that you knew me?”

 _“I’m not sure…”_ The pair could almost visualize how hard Allura was thinking, trying to search for a valid reason. _“But I’m really sorry I used you as a bargaining chip! It was the only way to make him agree.”_

Shiro smiled, unbothered by her apologies. “It’s fine… I get that he seems a little hard to work with. But I think things went pretty smoothly, so I’ll send over the photos in a bit.”

_“Oh, I’m excited! Message me when you do, I want to see them as soon as possible.”_

They said their goodbyes and Shiro pressed the button to end the call, determinedly avoiding Pidge’s gaze. “Look, before you say anything, I’m going out to get coffee. Any drink to buy your silence.”

She arched an eyebrow, clearly debating the pros and cons before shrugging. “Okay. As long as you get me the biggest matcha green tea frappuccino you can get with extra whipped cream and chocolate sauce.”

“Alright, alright.” Shiro laughed as he pulled open the door back into the studio to grab his jacket. He approached the leather couch and picked up the comic book to give back to Pidge, making a note to ask her to stop leaving her things all over the place.

Bending down to pick up his jacket, he noticed the corner of a white piece of paper sticking out of the jacket pocket.

He pulled it out, reading ten digits and a large “K” scrawled underneath.


	2. Cold Fingers, Grasping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Mool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! As a thank you for being so patient on this fic, I offer a monolith of a chapter ; v ;
> 
> It kinda turned out to be a continuation of Lycoria's chapter so this might turn out to be a random assortment of plot and non-plot things??  
> Not sure yet but thank you so much for your patience!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 

 

Dark eyes stared at Shiro through glossy lashes, inviting him to come closer. to His pink, dewy lips slightly open in an intake of breath, inviting him in for a taste. Barely there freckles dotted pale skin like stars in the sky, waiting to be mapped out into constellations under his fingers.

Shiro could feel the tight feeling of want in his chest, his eyes rapt with the sharp lines of bone just barely beneath skin, waiting to be bruised. Shiro’s fingers tightened and moved deftly down, down -

The vibration of his phone next to his workstation caused his hand that was holding his tablet pen to jerk, creating an unsightly smear across Keith’s pants and the digital canvas.

“Shit,” Shiro cursed underneath his breath, seeing his mistake, rapidly undoing the smear to restore Keith to his former glory.

He sighed, running a hand down his face, half hard cock already on its way to its original state from the start caused by his phone.

Shiro was in trouble. He had tried to edit the photos he took a week ago with Keith, but it always ended up with him just staring at each photo, getting a boner like he was back in high school when he was caught ogling the water polo team. Several times.

Shiro could already hear Pidge’s laughter echoing in his mind, mocking his blatant crush on Keith. He was grateful for the privacy. Deciding to have the two offices in different rooms - Pidge’s in the front to greet visitors, his next to the backdrop where he usually did test shots with models - was a good decision.

He picked up his phone, swiftly tapping in the passcode to see the message.

He nearly dropped his phone, his hand suddenly getting sweaty. Keith had replied to his “casual” message of asking him to drop by to pick out the photos he wanted to send to Allura. It was of course Pidge’s idea to ask Keith, but Shiro never thought Keith would respond.

“Sure, sounds good. I’ll come by sometime today?” read the message. Shiro’s heart sped up, realizing that Keith would come today.

He wasn’t ready.

He had to call Shay for wardrobe. He had to call Hunk to fix his eyeliner. His eyeliner wasn’t wing-y enough. It had to look like his wings were ready fly off his face, goddamnit.

He almost pressed the back button to start sending out panicked mass texts when something on Keith’s text caught his eye.

His phone innocently displayed the sender “Keith” followed by an eggplant emoji and hand emoji making the “OK” sign.

“Pidge!” Shiro shouted, suddenly distracted by Keith’s new name embellishments on his phone.

Shiro picked up his office phone before the first ring could finish.

“You rang?” came the lazy drawl, “Well, more like I rang,” a snort followed, “but you know. What’s up, boss?”

“Pidge. Stop hacking into my phone,” Shiro exasperatedly huffed, running his hand haphazardly through his hair while fiddling with his phone.

“Technically, it’s not hacking if I just typed in the passcode.” Shiro could hear the eyeroll in her voice. “Really, Shiro? All zeros? You could at least make it your birthday or something. Make people put in a little bit of effort, you know?”

“ _Pidge._ Change Keith’s name back.” Shiro demanded, making a mental note to ask Hunk how to change his passcode to something else. Maybe he could change it to Keith’s birthday. Would that be creepy? If Keith found out, maybe he could pass it off as a coincidence like _Haha! No way! That’s your birthday? Maybe it’s fate!_

“You should really learn how to use your phone, Shiro,” Pidge’s voice broke him out of his daydream of him spinning Keith around in a field of flowers.

“It’s a new phone, Pidge. It’ll take me a bit,” Shiro sulked.

“You got it last year.”

“Okay, not ‘a bit.’ It’ll take me a while, Pidge. A while.”

“The next model comes out next month.”

“I don’t need the newest model of everything, Pidge. I’m fine with my phone.”

Shiro could hear Pidge’s sharp gasp of indignation through the doorway that connected their offices followed by the echo through the phone.

“We’re breaking up, Shiro. I’m hanging up now.” Pidge’s dramatic statement was followed by a click and a dial tone.

Shiro let himself unleash a long, “Nooooo, Pidgeee,” as Pidge’s cackling laugh ringing through the studio.

“Um… Am I interrupting something?” a vaguely familiar voice came, lilting through the doorway.

Shiro’s heart stopped.

Keith.

He had said “sometime today.”

It was still “sometime today.”

He had heard all of what had happened between Pidge and him.

Shit.

“Oh, heya, Keith,” came Pidge’s voice, instantly devoid of any indication of what occurred just a few seconds previously.

“Hey, Pidge,” came the cool voice, “is Shiro in? He said that I should come pick out some pics to send to Allura.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Shiro could hear the smirk from Pidge.

A tousled head of brown popped through the door, the predicted smirk still on her bespectacled face.

“Someone’s here to see you, Shiro. Do you want to see him now?” Pidge looked like a cat who caught a canary, but Shiro decided to ignore it as punishment for earlier.

“Yeah, send him in. Thanks Pidge,” Shiro said, instantly regretting it as he caught the reflection of himself in his monitor. Messy bangs, just a bit of eyeliner, and comfy clothes that couldn’t be described as anything but pajamas. Being your own boss had its perks. But not now.

Shiro tried to quickly straighten out his hair, fixing his clothes to the best of his ability. He cursed not planning ahead and contacting Hunk or Shay earlier. He started thinking unsexy thoughts as a preventive measure. _Spiders. Clowns. Coran in a thong -_

All thoughts came to a halt when Keith unassumingly walked into the room, hands deeply set in his pockets. Shiro’s mouth went dry instantly after seeing the leather biker jacket tight around his torso, accentuating his small frame, tight pants pointing out how great Keith’s legs would look wrapped around Shiro’s waist.

Realization dawned on Shiro as to why Pidge was smirking the whole time. Only his closest friends knew that he had a thing for bikers. That brat.

 _Unsexy thoughts._ Shiro had to remind himself, resisting the urge to physically shake his head. _Spiders. Clowns. Coran in a thong_ \- his mind repeated the mantra until he felt like he was in the clear.

“Hey Shiro,” Keith said casually, each step Keith took towards Shiro made his heart beat at an exponentially higher rate.

“Hey Keith! Welcome back.”  Shiro’s heart fluttered as Keith stopped right next to him where he leaned down to look at the shot that Shiro was working on.

Shiro couldn’t help but take a quiet, deep breath, taking in Keith’s scent.

“That’s me, huh?” Keith turned his head to look at Shiro, body still leaning down, making their faces too close for Shiro’s sanity.

“Yeah, you look really great. I really like this one.” Shiro managed to breathe. “Here, take this seat and I’ll grab another and we can go through the photos together.”

Shiro grabbed a prop chair from the set, subtly wiping the sweat that had collected on his palm onto his pants.

Shiro was disappointed that they were flying through the roll with surprising speed. Keith didn’t have much to say about any photo, just making occasional agreeing noises to Shiro’s suggestions. It was unusual that a model was so indifferent to the photo selection process - usually asking Shiro for retouches for the smallest blemish or finding a flaw in every single photo, regardless if Shiro himself had loved the shot.

“You look fantastic in this shot,” Shiro commented as they reached the final photo. Keith chuckled, the soft sound making Shiro feel his heart stutter in his chest.

“You’ve said something like that on pretty much every photo,” Keith continued, a smirk playing on his lips. Shiro flushed. He hadn’t realized he had pretty much gushed to Keith about how gorgeous he was in every single shot in a roll that had over one hundred photos.

“I’m so sorry, Keith,” Shiro said sincerely, “You honestly look really great. You have a lot of talent for modeling.” He looked at Keith, admiring the faint blush that dusted his cheeks.

“You’ll have a really good career if you want to continue. A ton of photographers would be thrilled to do shoots with you once Allura releases them.” A look almost akin to disappointment flashed across Keith’s face before it reverted to his usual expression of nonchalance.

“Thanks, Shiro,” he said, a smile on his face but not reaching his eyes as he stood up from his chair. “Just pick any of the photos to send to Allura. I trust your opinion.”

Shiro felt wrong letting Keith leave so suddenly with strange tension between them. He wanted to see Keith again but the chances of that happening outside of work were nil unless he did something about it.

Just as Keith started walking out of the doorway between his and Pidge’s space, Shiro called out to Keith.

“Keith, wait.” Shiro’s heart was up in his throat, feeling tight. Keith looked at him, confusion obvious on his face.

“I just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out sometime,” Shiro mentally winced at how juvenile it sounded. What were they, in high school? Shiro wished there was some way to ask someone out without sounding like a creep or a 16 year-old kid.

Keith looked at him with confusion. “But we did hang out. Just now.” Shiro was yelling mentally at himself to abort mission. If Keith didn’t get what he meant in the first place, then he probably didn’t see Shiro romantically in any way.

But his dumb mouth ignored all warnings and continued on. “You know, beyond work.”

Nope. Not good. Turn around right now. Take the time that you got and let him go. Shiro’s mind was racing to figure out a way to take back what he said without sounding like an asshole.

Keith just looked even more confused. “Why would we…?” Shiro couldn’t help but mentally coo at Keith’s scrunched nose before snapping himself back to reality.

Shiro opened his mouth, praying to every deity in hopes that one would take over his body and solve his current predicament.

Thankfully, or not so thankfully, the deity of Pidge answered his call.

“He’s asking you out on a date, you dumbass,” came the dry voice through the open door. Shiro didn’t know whether he wanted to cry from relief or fear.

“What the fuck did you call me, Pidgeon?” Keith whirled around towards the door.

Keith stopped out of realization as Pidge’s words sunk in. He turned his head slowly towards Shiro, blush crawling up to the tips of his ears, ignoring Pidge’s squawks of indignation. Shiro felt the same happening to his face, cheeks hot.

“A date?” Keith said carefully, like he would wake himself if he said it too loudly. Shiro, still stunned as to what was happening, could only nod.

Keith’s tense face broke out into a smile, all toothy and bright. Shiro felt the corners of his own mouth tug up into a smile as well. “I’d like that.” Keith turned to leave, Shiro followed without thinking.

“I’ll text you about the details, okay?” Shiro called out as Keith sent daggers with his eyes at Pidge as he passed by her desk.

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon then?” Keith tilted his head, a soft smile on his face as he turned the knob into the hall.

Shiro stuttered some word of acknowledgement, still in shock that he was going on a date with Keith. _Keith._

Shiro walked over to the window that overlooked the street, a few scattered vehicles lining the sides. Keith’s soft locks appeared out the front door, bouncing gently as he strode his way to, of course, a red, shiny motorcycle.

The light of the slowly setting sun highlighted his cheeks, graceful fingertips slipped into a leather glove, tight around the knuckles. Each movement, Shiro found himself wanting to capture Keith’s easy elegance.

As Shiro tried to reason with himself that watching Keith for so long was absolutely not creepy, he noticed Keith pause before putting on his helmet. Keith paused for so long that Shiro was going to call out to him to ask if something was wrong, when Keith erupted with a “Yesssss” that was accompanied by a fist pump.

Shiro felt his heart give a jolt and squeeze inside his chest. How could anyone be so stoically gorgeous one moment and so ridiculously _adorable_ the next?

Shiro felt like he could fall hard for this one, his self-control being tested so early on. Shiro watched Keith straddle the motorcycle, tight pants becoming tighter around certain parts of Keith’s anatomy as he leaned forward to take off down the street.

Pidge didn’t even bother asking when Shiro wandered back into his office muttering, “ _Spiders. Clowns. Coran in a thong-_ "under his breath while rubbing his hands over his face.

 

* * *

 

“Pidge. Hey, Pidge.”

Pidge could hear Shiro calling, but didn’t want to pop out her earbuds. She finally got to the good part where the heroes of the story finally learned how to fuse together into their final form, the mystical mechanics of the transformation scene flashing across her screen, the protagonists yelling “Form -

“ _Pidge!_ " Shiro’s voice drowned out their battle cry. Pidge sighed and pulled out a bud. Looks like she’ll have to watch it from the beginning. Oh darn.

“Pidge, I’m not paying you to watch TV.” Shiro’s mildly annoyed voice slightly louder now that she had one bud dangling next to her shoulder, sounds of epic battle still blaring.

“What else am I supposed to work on,” Pidge groused, “I’ve completed all of your schedule up til the end of next month, filed all of the consent for publication forms, _and_ got you a date.” Shiro blushed at the last one.

“W-well,” Shiro began, his “boss-man” voice, as Pidge liked to call it, suddenly timid. “You can help me with that date you booked me.” At least he had the decency  to look sheepish.

“What.” Pidge deadpanned. “Didn’t you already go on several dates with him already?” Shiro’s blush spread further, heat curling around his ears and neck.

“Those don’t count…! We just went out for coffee a couple times!” he said hurriedly, “And even then, he was too busy to even stay for longer than 15 minutes…” Shiro sighed, looking dramatically wistful. Pidge rolled her eyes again.

“So, can you help me for the real date? It’s next Friday,” he pleaded.

Shiro looked desperate. Pidge loved every minute of it.

“Two days of paid vacation.” Pidge smirked at him. Shiro gaped back.

“You’re bargaining with me for love advice?”

“Yup.”

“Pidge, you’re supposed to be my friend,” Shiro feigned to be hurt by Pidge’s demands.

“But Shiro, you’re going to be going off and having fun with Keith and I’ll be here all on my lonesome probably doing work!”

Pidge was totally over the top guilting Shiro and they both knew it, but Shiro was also a huge pushover when it came to Pidge and they also both knew that as well.

He let out a sigh, combing his hand back through his hair.

“Fine, half a day. Paid vacation.”

“Shiro, you crook. Make it one and we have a deal.”

Shiro rolled his eyes but held out his hand. “You drive a hard bargain, Pidge Gunderson, but deal.”

Pidge smirked and firmly clasped her hand in his. “Nice. That makes ten days paid vacation for me.”

Shiro opened his mouth to say something along the lines of him being surprised, but reconsidered and just let out another sigh. Honestly, it was Pidge, he shouldn’t be.

“Alright, well now that you’ve weaseled another vacation day from me, can you help?”

Pidge was already tapping something in her computer, muttering under her breath about the overall rate at which she could accrue paid vacation. Shiro could just roll his eyes once more before he nudged Pidge with his foot. Pidge waved her hand at him like he was some sort of nuisance before he nudged the corner of her chair a little harder, sending her twirling. Pidge let out a small yelp as she halted herself with her feet that barely touched the base of the chair. Pidge sent a scathing glare, only to be met with Shiro’s confident smirk.

“Pidge. It’s your turn to hold up your end of the bargain.”

Shiro was not beneath bartering for Pidge’s help in making his date with Keith perfect. He wanted to make the best impression on Keith during their date besides their earlier interactions of him drooling all over the floor that Keith walked on.

“Alrighty, what do you wanna know? Hobbies? Favorite color? Boxers or briefs?”

“You know all of those?” Shiro sputtered, wondering what kind of relationship Pidge and Keith had and whether he should even ask.

“Okay, well I only know two of the three,” Pidge shrugged, “But it’s a start.”

“Let’s start off tame. Hobbies?” Shiro slightly frightened to ask which two of the three she knew.

“Hmm… Well, from what I observed at school, he’s pretty focused on his art and not much else. Like I said before, he doesn’t really talk to anyone unless he needs to or actually likes the person,” Pidge gave Shiro a pointed look.  Shiro smiled shyly at the reminder.

“Oh!” Pidge clapped her hands together in realization, a glint reflecting in her glasses, “I know a great date idea. He’s a mixed media kinda guy so you could probably go dumpster diving with him to find material for his pieces.” The way Pidge’s eyes lit up at the suggestion made Shiro realize that she was dead serious.

Shiro’s brows furrowed, “Uh… I don’t think… that’s first date material, Pidge.” Pidge’s smile faded into a dull look directed at Shiro.

“Gee okay, Dad, fun killer. Be boring like that.” Pidge sighed, muttering “I don’t know what he sees in you,” as she turned to go back to typing.

“No wait, Pidge,” Shiro’s nervousness was ramping up.

How was he supposed to impress someone that he knew nothing about besides him being a mixed media artist? He mentally slapped himself for not asking more things about Keith on their coffee runs. Keith just looked so tired so he didn’t want to bother him with small stuff like asking what his favorite color was.

“There has to be something else I can go off of besides that. Does he have a subject he usually does his art on?”

“Hmm… yeah, I guess.” Pidge shrugged, still facing the computer, now typing replies to emails. “He usually does his subjects on planetary bodies like stars or planets and stuff.”

“Pidge.” Shiro stared incredulously at the back of her head.

“Hmm? What is it, boss-man?” Pidge asked, head tilting slightly to make it seem like she was listening.

“Isn’t that kinda important? Like, the first thing you should tell me?” Shiro said, exasperated.

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Pidge waved her hand back at him once more. Shiro was tempted to slap it away. “Now shoo, Mr. I’m-Too-Good-For-Dumpsters. I have a vacation to plan.”  

Shiro just sighed and made his way to his own computer while shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, one more thing,” Pidge called out to him. Shiro whipped his head back, eager to hear more tidbits about Keith.

“Lance is coming over next Tuesday, so don’t forget,” Pidge smirked, knowing what Shiro was expecting to hear from her. That _brat._

Shiro tried not to physically droop as he turned back to shuffle his way back to his computer.

He had some research to do.

 

* * *

 

 

Shiro tried his hardest not to do his usual nervous habits waiting for Keith to show up.

His hair was meticulously styled, spending at least an hour on getting his white tuft to comb back just so.  That left out running his hands through his hair.

His eyeliner wings were drawn by Hunk, so sharp they could probably cut through diamond. That left out rubbing his hands over his face. The raccoon eyed look just didn’t look cute on Shiro. He had tried.

Shay had demanded to dress him using her own personal collection, never seeing Shiro so lost before a date. That left out his usual shoving his hands in his pockets. Fashionable clothing apparently had non-functioning pockets.

That just left Shiro to stand still, tense arms folded over themselves to deter him from messing anything up, face stiff from trying not to blink too hard in fear that his eyeliner wings would smudge.

Shiro was afraid Keith wouldn’t show up. What if Keith changed his mind? Found some other guy to sweep him off his feet? Got in an accident? Got lost? Shiro’s head was spinning with the endless possibilities of Keith not showing.

Shiro allowed himself to untangle an arm to check his phone for the time. 5:43. Exactly 17 minutes before their date. Shiro shivered, realizing that he had been standing out in front of the building for more than half an hour. The building seemed to take pity on him, its tall grey walls shielding him from the blustery gusts of wind that swirled the leaves about. At least Shiro picked a inconspicuous corner to stand in so he wouldn’t weird anyone out. If anything, if someone saw him stand outside for as long as he had, they’d take pity on the poor, desperate guy who couldn’t take a hint.

Soft tapping of leather soles on concrete made Shiro look up, trying not to get his hopes up for the nth time someone made their way up the stairs. This time, he wasn’t disappointed.

Keith stopped in front of him, his breath coming out in little white puffs in front of him. A woolen scarf wrapped around his neck, the thick, maroon cabled knit softening a possibly severe look of black and leather. Shiro could feel the squeeze of adoration in his chest as Keith smiled at him, soft and warm.

“Hey, Shiro. You’re here early.” Was it Shiro’s imagination but did Keith sound a little out of breath?

“Did you wait long?” he asked, fingers nervously twisting the soft leather of his riding gloves.

“Nah, just got here,” Shiro said breezily, his heart a hurricane. “Shall we get outta this cold?” Shiro motioned to the entrance with a tilt of his head. Keith hummed an agreement as he continued up the last set of stairs to the entrance, Shiro following close behind.

When they stepped inside, they were met with a surge of warmth, the sudden change in temperature flushing both of their cheeks. Shiro pushed back his sleeves, hoping it would reduce the amount of sweating he was probably about to do from both the warm interior and the date.

“Hello! Welcome to the Natural Science Museum!” a cheery voice called out to them from out behind the desk.

Before Shiro could open his mouth to greet the employee back, the employee’s eyes glimmered with recognition, “Oh, hey Keith! Welcome back.”

Shiro turned to look at Keith, eyes widening.

Oh no.

Keith’s flush was deeper, shyly waving back at the employee, “Hey Neil.” Keith started to dig into his pockets to bring out what Shiro feared as yes, a membership card.

Shiro was in full blown panic mode. The membership card wasn’t even in his _wallet._ It was just _in his pocket._ How many times had Keith come here? Shiro had planned to sweep Keith off his feet by showing him around. He had _rehearsed._ He walked around the place at least twice, reading every single plaque.

Keith was walking up to the counter to talk with Neil with a familiar ease. Shiro was ready to grab Keith’s hand, a bold move especially by Shiro’s standards, and skip the museum entirely and take Keith to an early dinner.

Keith turned around, looking questioningly at Shiro, waving the freshly printed tickets in his hand.

Keith had bought the tickets to the date Shiro asked him on while he was freaking out on said date.

Oh _no._

“Ready to go?” Keith tilted his head, both he and the supposed Niel looking expectantly at him. Shiro could only nod, while he followed Keith once more.

“Do you want to keep your ticket?” Keith held out one of the slips of paper to him. Shiro nodded, he would save this ticket and frame it to remind him and future generations on what not to do on a first date.

“Yes, thank you,” Shiro said as he took the ticket from Keith’s hand, still mentally punching himself for fucking up so badly already. “And thank you for paying for my ticket, I know they’re really expensive and all…” Shiro trailed off, not wanting  to bring up that Keith probably couldn’t afford much on an art student’s budget.

Keith shrugged, stuffing his ticket in his pocket. “It’s fine. It’s free.” Shiro wasn’t sure how it all worked out, or even if Keith was even telling the truth, but it didn’t lessen the guilt. Shiro moved to also place his ticket in his pocket, only to find seams where his pockets were supposed to be. Stupid fashion pockets.

After safely stowing his ticket in his wallet, Keith led the way around the museum, pausing to make a comment on the jumble of bones that made a dinosaur at one point in time. They slowly made their way through the various exhibits, stopping occasionally to look and chat about the stuffed figures in glass enclosures, towards their unspoken main destination.

The planetarium was beautiful, glass walls sheltering the blue shell of the structure. The night sky was visible through the glass, making it seem all the more otherworldly, the glowing lights a stark contrast against the dark background. Shiro was craning his head, taking in the scale models of the planets that hovered about, almost timidly next to the massive, blue sphere.

Shiro walked next to Keith as they made their way to the entrance of the planetarium. They maneuvered their way  through a crowd of children, no doubt a extracurricular field trip, going off of their matching shirts and backpacks.

They were midway to the door when Shiro heard it, the whispers of adolescent voices.

“Ewww… did you see that guy’s arm? It looked so nasty..!” The comment was followed by a set of tittering giggles. Shiro froze. Keith looked over at him, questioning eyes glancing at him.

The voice grew bolder with the encouraging laughter of his classmates, “Yeah, I bet he got it stuck in a meat grinder or something gross like that!” Another round of chuckles. Shiro’s hands tightened into fists, no pockets to shove them in. He folded his arms inwards, hands close to his underarms. How could he forget? How could he forget what he looked like to other people, mangled and broken.

Ugly and scarred.

Shiro felt guilty for coming out with Keith to such a public place in the beginning, the beast to Keith’s beauty. Shiro felt his throat go dry, a tight wave of shame running through his body.

Keith’s eyes sparked with realization as he overheard the snickers. His eyes hardened, sending a chilling glare at the mob of tiny hobgoblins near the spectral classification chart. Keith grabbed Shiro’s arm, swiftly dragging him into the planetarium, giving a nod to the employee who also seemed to recognize him.

Shiro’s embarrassment burned hotly in his gut, but Keith’s warm grip on his bicep lessened the severity. Keith pulled him to one of the back rows of the planetarium, half of the room already filled.

As they sat down, Keith whispered in his ear, “Forget them,” his breath puffing across the shell of Shiro’s ear. Shiro was too distracted with his inner turmoil to react, but Keith continued, “I’m glad that you brought me here.” Keith pulled back, a shy smile on his face, almost hidden by the dimming of the lights. Shiro broke out of his stupor to stare at the dark shape of Keith as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

A booming voice filled the room telling people to have a seat as the show was about to begin.

Keith’s hand ran soothingly up and down Shiro’s arm until he relaxed his arms to his sides. Keith’s hand slid down, gently clasping the top of his hand, not minding the mottled skin. Keith looked at Shiro as if to confirm if it was okay, and yes, it was beyond okay with Shiro, letting Keith know by turning his palm upwards, letting their palms easily slide together. Shiro gave Keith a smile, and Keith returned it, their skin tinged a bit blue from the screen overhead.

They turned their heads to watch the stars scatter about above them, the employee narrating the story about how galaxies came to be. The voice informed the audience about how light pollution in the city caused the stars to be hidden, the sky not dark enough to display the true brilliance of the Milky Way.

“This is what our sky would look like if we had no city lights to brighten the sky,” the voice continued, and an immense amount of stars spread all about the dome, interstellar dust streaking diagonally across the artificial sky. Gasps and “oohs” and “ahhs” erupted from the audience, Keith’s hand tightened around Shiro’s. Shiro tore his eyes away from the twinkling lights to look at Keith, hoping to see approval on his face.

What he  saw was Keith’s eyes twinkling brighter than any star projected on the screen; they were full of wonder, as if this was the first time he was seeing it. His lips were slightly parted in an inaudible gasp, full of awe. Shiro wondered what Keith would look like if he saw the real thing.

The projector for the screen was a little off, setting little freckles of stars on Keith’s skin. The blues highlighted the highs of his cheeks, the shadows exaggerating the valleys of his face. Shiro swore that in that moment, Keith was far more dazzling than any set of stars he would see.

Keith’s eyes, slid towards him, Shiro suddenly feeling guilty for being caught staring. Keith turned his head, stars still projected on one side of his face. Keith gave Shiro a heart pounding smile, and Shiro returned it with a lopsided grin. Shiro couldn’t help but lean forward, Keith meeting him halfway.

When their lips touched, Shiro felt his heart clench as it hammered away in his chest. Keith’s lips were so soft, so gentle, yet so firm, pressing against his. They started out slow, moving their lips together, letting the heat build between them, sending tingling jolts across the thin skin. Shiro couldn’t help but want to deepen the kiss, to feel more of Keith moving against him.

Shiro opened his mouth, letting the tip of his tongue swipe gently across Keith’s bottom lip. He smiled into the kiss as he felt Keith tighten his grip on Shiro, a shiver traveling through both of their spines. Keith let his tongue also follow up with a kittenish lick, Shiro savoring the slight roughness to it. Shiro tilted his head a bit, letting the kiss deepen, teasing licks scattered here and there between closed mouth kisses.

The narration of the planetary show continued on as if Shiro’s world wasn’t being turned upside down by Keith’s soft lips on his. Shiro wanted to lick into Keith’s mouth, to taste more of Keith, but was afraid of alerting other patrons of what was happening behind them. The wet sounds of their lips moving together, the incredibly sweet _chp_ ing noise as they began suckling on each other’s lips, becoming dangerously close to the level of audible beyond a five foot radius around them.

Shiro was becoming all too aware of the uncomfortableness of his pants, the too close to groaning as Keith swiped his tongue between his lips, the tightening of Keith’s grip in his hand. He knew they had to stop before he pulled Keith into his lap, needing to roll his hips into Keith’s lithe ones.

Shiro was the first one to break the kiss, not out of want, but necessity of breath. He stared into Keith’s eyes, the largeness of his pupils from a mix of arousal and the darkness of the room. Keith licked his lips and Shiro wanted to start all over again. They sat there for a moment, panting quietly into each other’s mouths before Keith tilted his face towards Shiro to give him a kiss of finality on the corner of his mouth, signaling the end of their starry makeout session.

When Keith returned to his original upright position in the chair next to Shiro’s, the stars came back, scattering across his cheeks. Shiro leaned in, mapping the pseudo constellations that lay on the cheek nearest to him with his lips, feather light touches across Keith’s soft skin. Shiro could tell Keith was blushing from the heat that built up beneath his lips.

Shiro separated from Keith, leaning back in his chair to observe the rest of the show. The employee was talking about the formation of supernovas, a bright spot at the top of the planetarium screen outshining the stars.

Shiro settled comfortably in his seat when realization hit him like a semi-truck, straight to the gut. He had just made out with Keith. In a public place. _On the first date._ Shiro felt a mixture of sheer joy and pure terror as he tried to figure out what was acceptable in this situation. He didn’t go on too many dates, but he was pretty sure there was a saying along the lines of “never kiss on the first date.” And boy, did he break that rule. He broke it several times over. But Keith seemed okay with it. He reciprocated. He seemed to enjoy himself.

Regardless, Shiro felt obligated to apologize for his behavior. He didn’t want Keith to feel pressured to do it again, if, _if_ Keith wanted to even go out on a second date. If he was going by the three strike system, he was nearing an out. Shiro prayed that he could get a second chance after apologizing profusely. But Shiro also didn’t want to make it seem like he was sorry that he kissed Keith. God, no. But he was insanely sorry for being so forward.

Shiro snapped out of his inner panic as he noticed the people ahead of them standing up. The lights of the planetarium came up, illuminating the path out.

He watched a grand total of like, twenty percent of the show.

Keith was standing too, looking questioning towards Shiro who was still seated. Shiro stood, a sheepish smile on his face.

“Want to keep looking or are you ready for dinner?” Shiro asked, hoping he could apologize to Keith in a less public place, as they walked out of the planetarium. Keith patted his stomach while looking thoughtful.

“I could go for some grub.” he said, looking up to Shiro while making their way through the evening crowd.

“Did you have a place in mind?”

Shiro brought a hand up to his chin in thought. “There’s a great place down the street. Do you mind a bit of a walk?”

Keith shook his head, motioning for Shiro to lead the way.

The evening chill had fallen upon the city streets, the bone-chilling gusts nipping at their cheeks as they made their way to their destination. The streetlights were on, the billowing steam rising from the drains being cast a golden glow.  Shiro tried his best to subtly block the wind with his bulk while they chatted, talking about their favorite parts of the exhibition.

White puffs from their breaths were whisked away by the wind, fading into the night air. Their conversation settled into a comfortable silence, but guilt was building up in Shiro’s stomach.

Shiro steeled himself before breaking the atmosphere, “I just wanted to be really clear, Keith,” Keith looked at him, nose and cheeks ruddy from the cold.

“I’m sorry for pushing the physical thing, you know,” Shiro cleared his throat, “back in the planetarium. I, uh,” Shiro once again unsuccessfully tried to put his hands in his pockets, settling for crossing his arms across his chest. “I’m sorry for kissing you, I mean. I’m not sorry for kissing you because it was really great but,” Shiro could feel his palm getting sweaty, “I’m sorry for assuming it was alright with you.”

Keith, bless Keith’s heart, just shrugged and smiled. “It’s okay. I liked it,” he said, licking his chapped lips. ”We should do it again sometime.”

It was simple. Just like that.

Shiro felt his shoulders relax, not realizing that they were tense in the first place. His arms that were tight around his torso loosened a bit. Keith took advantage of his relaxed limbs and looped a hand around his bicep. Shiro flushed, enjoying the warmth from huddling with Keith, but mostly savoring the physical contact. Keith tilted his head up, looking for Shiro’s approval, smiling shyly when Shiro pulled his arm in closer, bringing Keith in.

They continued for a short while before reaching the restaurant. It was new, the doorknob still smooth, bright and shiny, with disuse. They were greeted by a well-dressed gentleman, leading them into a dining area bathed in candlelight; the flickering of the lit wicks causing their shadows to dance on the walls.

The two of them sat a small table in the corner, their ankles bumping under the dark washed wood.

The food was delicious, but portion size much too small for a price much too big in Keith’s opinion. Shiro chuckled when Keith said that. Keith found Shiro cutting all of the intricately arranged courses in half to give to Keith.

“Just so you can try it too,” Shiro would say with a hopeful smile. Keith couldn’t refuse, feeling the rush when he leaned forward, mouth open, for Shiro to feed him. The bridge of Shiro’s nose flushed when Keith returned the favor, accepting it gracefully, even after Shiro protested that it defeated the purpose of him giving Keith some of his food.

They chatted together quietly, conversation easy and relaxed.

Shiro talked about his studio, Keith talked about his artwork. Shiro loved the way Keith’s eyes lit up with passion as he talked about working with different mediums to express his ideas.

Shiro chuckled, Keith looked at him questioningly.

“You know,” Shiro began, “that reminds me of a conversation I had with Pidge for this date.”

Keith tilted his head, silently asking him to elaborate. “She said that I should take you dumpster diving for materials,” he laughed again, looking at Keith for the same reaction.

Keith just looked at him, eyes looking expectantly. “Wait, Keith, would you want to go dumpster diving with me?” Shiro said, trying to hide his incredulousness.

Keith’s eyes sparkled, “Woah, really?” his voice sounding too excited for something like dumpster diving. But Shiro’s insides melted for Keith’s smile, childish with delight.

“Yeah, maybe for another date?” Shiro said, knowing that he was a goner. Willing to dumpster dive for someone on the first date. That had to be a new record for something.

Keith nodded eagerly while he took a bite of their shared dessert, some sort of French something that neither one of them could pronounce. Some crumbs got stuck to the corner of his mouth and before Shiro knew it, he was brushing them away with his thumb.

Keith flushed, Shiro’s thumb slid upward to rub gently on the the curve of his cheekbone.

“You’re really beautiful when you smile,” Shiro breathed. That caused Keith to scowl and Shiro laughed, taking his hand away from Keith’s face.

“I bet you say that to all your models when you take them on dates.” Keith said half-teasingly as he stabbed another piece of flaky pastry.

“Honestly, you’re the only model I’ve gone out with.” Shiro defended, and without hesitation added, “and the most beautiful.”

Keith looked at him, mouth agape. He snapped it shut with a smirk. “You know, if I’m the only model you’ve gone out with, then of course I’d be the most beautiful.”

Shiro laughed heartily, basking in the warm buzzing sensation in his body. He never felt this way before with anyone else.

He wished it would never stop.

When they were ready to leave, they realized it had been a few hours since they had arrived. Shiro left a big tip, both of them saying their thanks and apologies to the gracious staff before they left.

The street was more quiet, the restaurant a ways away from the city’s nighttime hustle and bustle. It was more chilly since the sun had long past gone down.

Keith’s arm found itself once again looped around Shiro’s, easy and loose. Their sides pressed flush together as Shiro snuggled closer to Keith. Fashionable clothing was pretty thin after all. They made their way to Keith’s bike, the walk back seemingly too short.

“I guess this is my stop,” Keith waved his hand unceremoniously over his cherry red bike.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Shiro sighed, trying not to sound too disappointed and failing.

Keith chuckled, looking at Shiro expectantly. “When can I see you again, Mr. Shirogane?”

Shiro’s heart lept, mentally cheering that Keith was asking for another date.

“I’ll text you when I’m free. Maybe we can do another shoot together? You know, to capture the gorgeousness of the most beautiful model I’ve dated.” Shiro grinned teasingly.

Keith playfully slapped his arm. “If you keep talking about how beautiful I am, I’ll just assume you’re going out with me just for my body,” he said coyly.

Shiro dared to put his hands on Keith’s waist, hoping that it would be taken well. Keith’s small intake of breath and deepening blush confirmed that it was.

“I’d like for you to be more than just that to me, Keith,” he whispered tenderly. Keith shivered, probably not from the cold.

Keith’s hands made their way up to tangle in Shiro’s still perfectly arranged hair and brought their faces close together.

The kiss was slow and sweet, but it made something burn inside Shiro, hotter than any kiss had done before. The brush of their lips made Shiro ache, fingers tightening on Keith’s hips. They separated, but hadn’t moved their heads. Shiro rubbed his nose along Keith’s before putting a kiss on Keith’s cheek.

“Okay,” Keith said shyly, answering Shiro’s statement from before.

Shiro chuckled softly with relief, and pulled him into a warm embrace. Shiro swore he could feel Keith’s fluttering heart against his own, elation coursing through his veins.

Shiro placed a kiss atop Keith’s head before reluctantly stepping back.

“I better let you go before it gets too late,” he murmured. Keith nodded, disappointed, but understanding.

Shiro watched the red taillight of Keith’s bike streak down the street before making his way back to the train.

Shiro thought about Keith’s smile as he stepped into the train car.

Shiro thought about the way Keith’s hand fit in his as he walked out of the station.

Shiro thought about Keith’s sparkling eyes at the planetarium while he unlocked the door.

Shiro thought about Keith as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

His hair was perfectly mussed from when Keith ran his fingers through during their kiss.

His eye makeup was artfully smudged on the corners from when his eyes crinkled to laugh at Keith’s jokes.

He ran his hands underneath the fabric of his jacket and found a secret pocket hidden inside. A note with Shay’s script-like handwriting of “Best of luck to you, Shiro! - Hunk and Shay” on it.

Shiro smiled fondly, his world becoming a little bit brighter with the smallest amount of Keith in it.

The pressure of Keith’s hand still lingered in his marred palm, skin thick and smooth; nerve endings unable to feel the sensation of Keith’s skin against his own.

Shiro stared at his scarred hand, brought it up to his mouth, and laid a kiss where Keith once was.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sure love me some sappy Sheith.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope to see you soon~
> 
> ALSO HAPPY SHEITH WEEK!!!
> 
> Xoxo,  
> Mool


	3. Slow to Catch On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By Lycoria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Another chapter of 85mm already! Thank you to everyone for how warmly you've been receiving this fic. I was a little sick these past few weeks so I wrote a bit slower than I would like, but here it is~ Please enjoy : >

Maybe it was time to admit it to himself.

It was a dreary Tuesday morning, rays of sunlight struggling to peek through the grey clouds overhead. Shiro stared at the dull landscape outside of his bathroom window. It wasn’t a particularly fantastic view, aged brick apartments and equally gruff looking inhabitants of the city stalked by, no doubt in a hurry to wherever they were going.

Still, his heart thudded in his chest, his head muddy, and his thoughts no better than a pile of goop.

He gripped his bathroom sink to get ahold of himself.

It really was time, time to admit it.

Maybe, just maybe, his crush on Keith was just a bit bigger than he expected.

_Maybe._

_Just a little bit._

Shiro steadfastly brushed his molars, the idea refusing to settle as he mentally spun circles around the thought.

It was like he was in grade school again, all butterflies in the stomach and band aids over scrapped knees.

_Would you like to be my boyfriend? Circle Yes or No._

He slammed the water off a little harder than he wanted to, dropping his toothbrush back into its cup with a resounding thunk.

Maybe it was best to not think too hard about it now, he reasoned as he drew a black wing on his right eyelid, inwardly cursing over the fact that it looked thicker than the left. It was just another Tuesday morning, his heart pounded.

But Keith was coming in for another shoot today.

 

* * *

 

“You’re absolutely sure?”

Now his heart was pounding for other reasons, standing in front of Pidge as she languidly took another spin on her rotating chair, mechanical pencil balanced between her nose and upper lip.

“Yeah boss-man. I thought you knew and didn’t think too much about it.” She said with a shrug when she finally stopped her miniature joyride, propping her head onto one hand. “I did tell you that Lance was coming in on Tuesday. Why else would you double book Keith if they weren’t doing a shoot together or something?”

Because Shiro was preoccupied.

Because Shiro’s bad at what he does.

Because Shiro’s eyeliner was too goddamn thick today.

None of which were good answers for bespectacled girl sitting before him, staring at him with increasing skepticism.

At least he didn’t forget his keys.

Suddenly, Shiro’s eyes widened. “You know what? Maybe I could just ask one of them to come a bit later, say I messed up the times, apologize, and tell them to come in a few hours later. Let me just text Lance-”

Pidge snorted. “Do you seriously think Lance would let that slide? Mr. Big Shot model and all?”

“Right, okay Keith then.” He winced, hoping that it wouldn’t be too much of an annoyance for Keith. He still had school after all-

The air of the lobby was filled with the insistent buzzing of the front door, both owner and assistant of Shirogane Studio freezing into place.

“Well, speak of the devil.” Pidge said with a toothy grin as she pressed the button to let Keith in. Of course she loved this.

Soon enough the elevator door bell rang, doors sliding open achingly leisurely as Shiro looked on with equal parts sheer excitement and trepidation.

There Keith stood, mouth turned in his signature frown, the pout of his bottom lip creating a crescent moon. For a moment his purple eyes flickered, quickly locking onto Shiro’s figure. Instantly his expression softened, and a slow smile appeared, lighting up his eyes. “Shiro, I didn’t expect you to be out front.”

Shiro could almost hear his heart explode in his chest.

He did though, hear Pidge snickering behind him.  
“Keith, hey…!” Shiro reached out to him, stopping when he realized he had no idea what he should do. A handshake would be much too distant and professional, but it seemed much too early to give him a hug. He settled to rest his hand on the shorter boy’s shoulder, regretting it almost instantly as Keith tilted his head to one side, confusion written on his face.

“Sorry for being a bit early.” Keith ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, tousling the already unkempt locks. “I was just at Allura’s and thought maybe it wouldn’t hurt to just come straight here from there.”

Shiro glanced at his phone, the clock indicating that Keith really had been about an hour early. Time to bite the bullet. “That’s alright, but hey, so-”

“Oh that’s right,” Keith interrupted, “Allura wanted you to call her about something.”

“Really?” He checked his phone again, seeing no new notifications on its screen before he moved away to open the door to the studio. “Okay just give me a second, I’ll call her up.”

As Shiro dialed her number, he watched through the glass door as the model and his assistant exchanged looks, mostly nonchalant stares. Absentmindedly, he realized he would have expected that students in the same field would be more friendly to each other.

_“Hello? Shiro? Thanks for calling.”_

“Hey Allura, what’s up? Keith told me you wanted to speak to me?”

Ah, there it is, he thought as he watched Pidge and Keith begin to converse, nevertheless with glares on their faces.

 _“I know this is a bit unorthodox…”_ He heard her lilting laugh through the phone, _“Well, everything about this is not of the norm, but I’m looking for another model for the line.”_

“Okay? What do you need?” Shiro warmly replied.

It seemed like they were in some sort of heated debate now, Keith leaning over the counter as Pidge slapped her hand on her desk to make her point.

 _“I was hoping… Since Keith only seems to want to be photographed by you and trusts you-”_ There again was that giddy feeling _“-You could help me find the model from one of your existing clients?”_

Then it dawned on him, the God-sent way out that had been gifted to him.

Shiro shifted his feet, pretending to think for a moment. “Actually yeah, I think I might have someone good that just so happens to be coming in today-” Not completely a lie “His name’s Lance McClain from Blue Lion Agency. They have a similar build so I think they would look good paired together.”

_“Ah! The Blue Lion Agency. I’ve heard about them. Alright, well, as long as Lance doesn’t mind, take some shots of them together and send them over. If I like them, I’ll contact the agency and see what we can do together.”_

He smiled weakly, relief washing over him that he had somehow gotten out of this mess.

Behind the door, Pidge had let out a hearty guffaw, with Keith grinning cheekily in response as he continued to talk, gloved hand tucked under his chin.

_“Shiro?”_

“Oh, sorry! What else do you need?” He sputtered, embarrassed that he had been distracted once again.

_“It’s fine… I was just wondering…”_

“Hm?”

 _“Are you and Keith…”_ Shiro waited, the weight of her question on his shoulders and blush creeping up his neck. Had she really caught on already? He could hear her take a breath on the other end of the line. “ _You know what? Nevermind, don’t worry about it!”_

“O-oh.” Shiro answered, fighting to sound uninterested.

_“I’ve got to run Shiro, thanks for all your help.”_

  
“Okay Allura. I’ll let you know what I can do about Lance.” He said, albeit a little shakily.

_“Right! I’ll see you later.”_

The conversation ended, and so he stepped back into the front room, Pidge and Keith smiling a little conspiratorially at each other as he returned. “Why do I get the feeling that you two have cooked up something together?”

“Well…” Pidge shrugged, “Since Keith is so early, and he’s a client after all, maybe you should take him out to coffee.”

At the suggestion Shiro perked up. He couldn’t believe that Pidge would have the conscientiousness to actually help him out, even so, he accepted the idea gratefully.

“Do you want to go to the cafe around the corner then?” He turned to Keith.

Keith shrugged in return, crooked grin once again squeezing at Shiro’s heart and making it hard to breathe. “Sounds good to me.”

“You’re paying right? Since he’s a guest?” Pidge jumped in, eyes boring into Shiro’s.

“Uh… I guess so?”  
  
“Great. Then I’m coming too, thanks for the treat!” She swung her legs high as she jumped off her chair, scrambling to get her coat from the studio before Shiro could say another word.

Instead he turned back to Keith, hoping for any sort of explanation.

“She wanted coffee. College students always want coffee.”

Maybe it was a bad idea for Shiro to hope that the two of them would get along.

Nevertheless, now that they were alone, he had to get closer to Keith, slipping his hand into the other young man’s, feeling the supple leather wrapped around his palm. Keith squeezed back, red coloring his cheeks.

Like being pulled forward, Shiro felt the compulsion, the need to touch him, and so he did, other hand wrapping securely around Keith’s waist as he gave him the gentlest kiss, feeling the softness of his lips moving against his own. Shiro pulled back and his gaze fell on Keith, glimmering eyes and an upturned mouth.

“Hey.” He whispered softly to Shiro.

“Hey.” Shiro repeated just as quietly, shifting his hand until their fingers tangled together.

Abruptly, the studio door was flung open, moment shattered like hard candy on the pavement as Pidge huffed past them towards the elevator. “Stop being so gross and let’s go get the caffeine already.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey Keith.” Pidge called out, eyes still focused on her smartphone, one earbud in as she finished up another episode of her favorite show.

Keith grunted in response, acknowledging that she had said his name as he looked at the cars whizzing down the street. The trio had picked some seats on the outside patio, and now Pidge and Keith were basking in the warming early fall sunlight as Shiro picked up orders.

Pidge dropped her phone onto the table with a clatter. “Broody McBroodypants all over again huh?”

He took offense to her comment, replying by sinking further into his seat, arms crossed and a scowl.

“Right, okay, like that totally doesn’t prove my point.” She sighed, leaning back into her chair. “It’s like you’re a completely different person around boss-man.”

“Really?” Keith perked up, sitting straighter and finally taking interest.

Pidge groaned, scrolling through the related videos before finding another of her interest. “Look, I really couldn’t care less what’s going on between the two of you, but either way, just wanted to say thanks for getting me coffee.”

“No prob. It’s not like I’m the one actually paying-” Keith stopped, eyes narrowing onto the flashing lights on Pidge’s phone screen. “Wait, is that-”

“Yeah it is.” She puffed her cheeks out, like a tiny bird fluffing its feathers out at a sign of a threat. “You already know by now that I’m a huge nerd so of course I’m gonna watch superhero cartoons. Think what you want of it.”

Keith pouted, his eyebrows furrowed, "Hey, I like-"

The blast of the horn of an impatient driver cut off his sentence, obscuring his words entirely.

Pidge, in turn, looked at him incredulously. "You? Keith? You like-"

The horn honked again, this time longer, as if it would help the gridlock.

"Yeah..." The young man answered self-consciously, fingers tapping on the surface for the coffee table. "I watched it a lot as a kid. So I picked up the reboot too."

"Okay..." Pidge looked at him, disbelieving, "Who's your favorite?"

"The Black one's obviously the best." He rolled his eyes, as if it wasn't even a question to ask.

"Hah!" She cried in response, pointing a tiny finger at him while slamming the other hand down on the poor coffee table. "Green's clearly the most awesome!"

At that, Keith's purple eyes flashed, visibly insulted. "What are you talking about? Sure Green's okay, but Black is the leader-"

"Well, personally, the red one's my favorite..."

The two of them snapped their heads around at the voice and were shocked to see Shiro holding their coffees, his face red as if he had just made a personal confession.

“Come to the dark side, haven’t you?” Smugly, Pidge took her cup, cradling in her hands to warm her fingers.

“You have been leaving the comics all over the studio, and I can hear it blaring from your desk whenever I do my touch ups.” He quickly countered, deadpanned.

She raised her eyebrows, as if to say that was fair enough and concede to her defeat, loudly slurping her coffee the whole way. Shiro sighed under his breath and instead turned his attention to Keith, realizing that he had been watching them, head propped on one hand and a ghost of a smile playing with the way his purple eyes brightened. “What are you looking at?” Shiro teased, scooting his chair closer to Keith.

“Nothing, just funny to watch the way you two interact.” He took a sip from his cup, Shiro watching the way his adam’s apple bobbed on the long line of his neck.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Pidge made gagging noises.

“Right well,” Shiro tried to clear his throat, Keith smirking in reply, “I guess you heard from Allura that she’s looking for more models for her line.”

“Uh-huh.”

It was strange, he could almost see Keith’s expression falter for a bit. Was it something he didn’t want to do?

Nevertheless, he continued with his explanation, voice soft. “So… there’s actually someone coming in today that might be a good fit. His name’s Lance.”

Pidge’s eyes widened in realization “Oh so that’s how you-”

She stopped, a scathing look from Shiro effectively silencing her.

“Either way, Allura said she wanted some tests shots with the two of you together, is that all good?”

It took some time before Keith replied, just a little sullenly. He gave a single nod before downing the rest of his coffee. “Are we still doing my solo shoot though?”

“Yeah, of course we are Keith.” Shiro’s eyes lit up, understanding. The reason why Keith seemed so incredibly reluctant finally dawned on him. “This isn’t replacing the shoot we planned today or anything.”

“Okay then.” Keith seemed almost embarrassed, fingers running over his empty paper cup, violet-grey eyes avoiding the other young man’s gaze.

“Shouldn’t we get going now?” Pidge reminded, shaking her own cup before squinting to look through the hole at the top, searching for any remnants of coffee.

Shiro pulled his phone off the coffee table, the time nearing when Lance should arrive. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Being your priceless, indispensable assistant as always.” She praised herself, standing to throw her coffee away.

Shiro shrugged his coat on, watching as Keith scrolled leisurely on his phone screen. His eyes shifted, peeking through his bangs in a sideways glance at Shiro.

“You look a little different today.”

Shit. The goddamn awful eyeliner rearing its terrible head again.

“Y-yeah?” He struggled, “Well to be honest, I kinda drew my eyeliner on too thick today, so it’s a little weird-”

“I think it looks pretty good.” Keith swiftly interrupted, just a faint dash of red coloring his cheeks.

And suddenly, all was right with the world.

 

* * *

 

When Lance arrived, the florescent lighting glinted off of his Chanel sunglasses, on his shoulders was draped a Gucci trench coat.

“Hey Pidge.” He placed the sunglasses delicately on his head, Starbucks cup poised in the other hand.

“Lance.” She replied noncommittally as she typed away at her computer. “I see you’ve got new clothes again.”

“Models have to be dressed for success, just like anyone else, you know.” Lance was now leaning on the counter, giving her a pointed look.

Pidge made a noise akin to a snort, pushing up her glasses as she gazed into the screen. “Yeah and if dressing like an art student meant success, I’d be wearing cardboard covered in paint. I’ll keep my green hoodies, thanks.”

He huffed, pulling off his coat and putting onto a hanger. “Where’s Shiro? He’s usually up front when I arrive.”

“Uhh… He’s already inside, but...” Pidge drawled for a moment. “That’s right, you might be doing something extra today.”

Lance, to his credit, was sobered by her words, voice serious. “What do you mean?”

“Something for Altea Fashion? They need more models for their fall men’s line.”

He almost dropped his latte onto her screen. Pidge scrambled to protect the monitor while giving him a withering look.

“That Altea? They need more models and they want me?”

“Yup.” Pidge grunted, adjusting the screen back into place, unwilling to be the one to reveal the true circumstances. “Boss-man’s inside with the lead model already. Just head in.”

“Pidge.”

“What?” She curtly answered, brows knitted with annoyance.

“It’s good to see you.” Lance smiled, small and genuine.

“Same with you, show off.” Her voice sincere, eyes avoiding his.

He pushed the glass door open, strutting into the studio. Shiro, as expected, was at his desk next to the white backdrop, head down and focused on his camera.

“Shiro, what’s good my man?” Lance gave him a hard slap, Shiro jumping a little in his seat before turning.

“Oh, hey Lance!” The photographer had a little smirk on his face. “I can tell by the way you look that Pidge gave you the good news.”

“Yeah?” He didn’t realize it, but he was already grinning from ear to ear. He scanned the area, seeing Hunk and Shay conversing with a frumpy looking young man in a 5 dollar black t-shirt, his back turned towards Lance.

“Jesus Christ, a fucking mullet in this day and age?” Looking at the unruly dark hair and the torn skinny jeans, he must have been some sort of new intern at the studio. Whatever. “But yeah, I did hear, where’s the lead model at?”

“Uh... “ Shiro’s smile seemed to freeze into place.

“Oh shit!” Lance slapped a hand over his mouth. “Is he not here yet? Is he giving you hard time? Shiro you gotta stick up to people like that-”

Shiro scratched at his nape, eyes roaming the room. “That’s not it… well, I mean, why don’t you meet Keith yourself?” He pointed towards Hunk, Shay, and the intern.

At the name Keith, the dark-haired man snapped his head around, bright purple eyes gazing in their direction. Even from afar, Lance could tell just how undeniably attractive he was. Full lips, a jawline that could cut diamonds, and eyebrows so sharp they stabbed him in the heart.

“Holy shit. Mullet kid is the model?” He could feel the very disbelief shake in his bones.

“Yup.” Was all Shiro could offer.

From afar, he heard Hunk whine. “Keith, I can’t have you turning around every time you hear Shiro’s voice. I’m going to mess up your foundation.”

“But I heard him call my name this time.” The model countered, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout and further accentuating his angular cheekbones.

Lance shook his head. “I’m gonna go uh… introduce myself.”

“Good luck.”

He wasn’t sure why Shiro seemed almost serious when he said that.

“Hey it’s Lance! Good to see you buddy!” Hunk cheered as he neared the make up table, Shay giving him a little wave.

He gave Hunk a high five before turning pointedly towards Keith, hand out for a professional handshake. “Lance McClain, I heard you’re the new model for Altea’s fall line.”

Keith stared at him for a moment, then at his hand, before nodding silently and turning back to Hunk.

So that’s what Shiro meant.

“So uh… It’ll be good working together.”

“Yeah.”

Lance winced. Maybe that’s how all the popular models acted. Should he be taking tips? He still couldn’t stop himself from seething at Keith’s flawless skin.

"So what is your beauty routine anyways?" Lance asked with a sideways glance, hoping to find a way to break the ice. There was no way Keith didn't spend a fortune to keep his face looking so pristine.

"Uhh... What?" Keith responded, his face slack and disinterested. Hunk, who was busy selecting his liner, froze into place.

"You know!" Lance said, his patience starting to wear thin. “What are your secrets man? What do you at night? Like creams, face masks?"

"I... Wash my face before I sleep?"

"And then?"

"I... Sleep?"

Good. Fucking. God.

“Keith…” Lance could hear Hunk start, his face was several shades paler than usual, a shaking hand holding the chosen eyeliner. “Please don’t tell that you use hand soap on your face.”

“What? What’s that?”

“The stuff you use to wash your hands. Do you use it on your face?” Hunk articulated with his hands as he spoke.

“Oh, I guess that’s it then.”

Hunk slumped onto his table, Lance was about ready to throw his designer sunglasses onto the ground.

The make-up artist turned, whipping out a pen and paper before furiously scratching out names of skin care products onto the blank page. “Keith I beg you. Please, I’ll pay for them myself, just please use all of these items as soon as you can.”

He shrugged, hands grasping at the edges of the stool he was perched on. Anything free was a good thing in an art student’s book.

  
Lance sighed, defeat evident in the way his shoulders slumped. “It was nice meeting you Keith. See you in a bit, I’ll be at the lounge.”

“Yeah.” He replied, clearly unaware of his grievances.

By the time both of them were ready, Shiro could see clear signs of exhaustion on Lance’s face, the usual cheery banter had been sapped from him by Keith’s existence. He couldn’t help but be a bit sympathetic, after all, Keith wasn’t the typical model by a long shot.

Keith, on his part, looked much more relaxed than their first shoot while stepping onto the set, hair slicked back and hands in the pockets of his black blazer. Lance also walked onto the backdrop, fingers running down the collar of his dark blue button up, not a fold out of place.

Shiro took a few moments to observe the two appraisingly, crooked finger on his chin. “Alright, the two of you look pretty good together, so I think this is going to work.”

Lance beamed, obviously restraining himself from a fist pump.

“So why don’t we try…” He paused, one eye through the viewfinder. “Just the typical pose. Keith stand still and Lance put an arm around his shoulder.”

Keith shifted in place, half-lidded eyes giving a repeat performance, one that was making Shiro’s heart do somersaults. Beside him, Lance jutted his elbow to the side as he leaned onto the other model, one knee bent in what looked like a painful position. His face held a strangely smarmy smirk.

“Uhh… Lance?” Shiro blinked before lifting his head, hoping that maybe his camera angle or lighting was just a bit strange. No such luck, he looked just as awkward as he did behind the lens. “Your footing looks kind of like it might hurt… Are you comfortable with that?”

“Yup! All good, dude.” He hastily replied.

Shiro watched as a single drop of sweat slid down Lance’s forehead.

“Well…” He scratched his cheek, trying to find the right words. “This doesn’t seem like your usual type of pose? If that makes any sense.”

Lance gave him a wink, its appearance more that of a nervous twitch. “Nothing gets past you Shiro. I’m just trying out some new moves today.”

Keith’s carefully neutral face was starting to slip into more of a grimace.

“Could I give you some suggestions then?”

“Suggest away, my man!”

“Well, set down your right foot first, and maybe loosen up your arm.” Shiro instructed, head tilted to one side in concentration.

Slowly, Lance put his foot down. The hand pressed into his hip slid lower by about an inch. Little to nothing was done to the overall effect.

“Right, umm…” Their photographer shuffled forward, hands out towards Lance. “Could I possibly…?”

At that point, he could only nod at Shiro, face on the verge of cramping from his wide-mouthed grin.

With gentle hands, Shiro pulled on the arm at his hip, instead resting it by his side. He pushed at the back of both of Lance’s knees, bending them from their locked positions before angling his left foot to rest lightly on its tip.

He stepped back to his camera, holding a thumbs up as he peered through the viewfinder once again. “If you could just relax that smile- Okay, I think that looks good now.”

Shiro took several shots before moving onto the next pose, but soon enough it became clear that Lance was over thinking, his postures exaggerated and limbs contorted painfully. Even still, as the afternoon wore on- and with copious amounts of Shiro’s patience -Lance was able to ease back into his usual self.

“Alright! That’s about it. Good work you two.” He heaved a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his brow as he looked at the models. Lance had his hand around Keith’s waist, leaning against the other young man with a hand in the pocket of his dark washed jeans. The instant Keith heard that the shoot was done, he pulled away from Lance, leaving him to almost topple over himself. Before either of the two had a chance to react, the purple eyed model was gone, zipping towards Hunk’s direction.

Shiro could only shrug, eyes on the retreating figure as he sank into his desk chair.

“Hey, Shiro?” He turned, Lance stood beside him, thumbs twirling anxiously around each other. “Just wanted to ah… Say thanks for today, man.”

He softly smiled. “No prob. I know you weren’t yourself today, but I knew you could do it. Don’t let yourself get psyched out by Keith.”

“Right, I mean… How do you even get along with him?” Lance squinted at him skeptically.

“Well uh…”

_Take him out on a couple coffee dates._

_Let him pay for your museum fare._

_Make out with him instead of watching the planetarium show._

“You just have to let him warm up to you a bit… I guess?”  
Lance simply stared, uncomprehending before he shrugged and walked away.

There was to be a small break before Keith’s solo shoot, then Lance’s. Shiro took the time to look over some of the photos, sending a few raw and unedited ones to Allura. On Keith’s part, there wasn’t much that Hunk or Shay had to change, a few touch ups on his makeup and some new outfit changes before he was walking back to the set, the heavy thud of his boots alerting Shiro.

Of course, Shiro wasn’t prepared for the subtle glittering of highlight on Keith’s cheekbones. He willed himself to breathe.

“Hey… All ready to go?” He asked as casually as he could muster. Shiro wanted to pull him onto his lap.

Definitely not the time or place.

A certain intensity was apparent in Keith’s eyes, darkened with meaning lost to him. The young man opened his mouth to say something before he quickly shut it, opting to nod instead before stepping onto the backdrop.

“Like I said last time,” Shiro moved behind the camera, taking a few test shots to perfect the settings. “Everything looked really good, and Allura was happy with them, so I think we should pick up from where we left off.”

Keith stood there for a moment, pensive. “Shiro, could I try something out today?”

He had never shown direct interest in modeling, and so the question surprised Shiro. Maybe there was something he saw Lance did, or really, what Shiro posed him with, that interested him. “Yeah go ahead! What do you have in mind?”

“Some new moves.” Was the clipped response.

“Right…” The photographer swallowed. “When you’re ready, then.”

Fluidly, his hand traveled down his torso, hooking at the top of his pants before pulling hard, exposing a triangle of his flesh underneath the seam of his jeans. Graceful fingers brushed away the hair around his neck, and he tilted his head downward. Still, like before, his eyes were on Shiro, eyelashes thick and black.

Shiro wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this.

He took a few shots, a shaky thumbs up, and Keith began to shift gracefully into his next position like a pampered prized cat on show. He cupped his face with his left hand, thumb in his open mouth and held in place by his teeth. His other free hand had made sure to ride up his shirt, once again revealing the fine lines of shapely abdominal muscles. His photographer didn’t fail to notice that the pose was similar to one he had suggested before.

Shiro’s heartbeat double timed, Keith’s eyes steadily locked onto his through the lens. It was like before, the first time, when Keith stole his breath with the darkened glances and his tight-lipped nature. If Shiro was honest with himself, he could swear that the model was trying to get him to pop a boner.

But there was something in that way Keith stared him down, pose after pose, that made him know it wasn’t just that.

Still, Shiro felt it safer to repeat his personal mantra of Coran in a thong.

Keith sank to the ground, and Shiro went with him. He sat with his legs splayed, knees bent and pressed into the backdrop. One hand went to tangle into the strands of his black hair, the other balanced on the ground and tauntingly between his legs.

His eyes were sharp, almost dangerous in the focus of the camera. Shiro finally recognized the expression Keith was giving him.

_A Challenge._

“A-alright. I think that’s good.” He hadn’t realized how hard he was breathing. The rest of the studio came sharply back into focus, the sound of Lance and Pidge laughing at a video in the lobby reaching his ears.

“Yeah?” Keith got up, biting his lip as if disappointed. _Don’t do that to me_ , Shiro begged inwardly.

“Keith?” The other boy’s head had been turned away, watching the sun as it set through the windows. At the sound of his name, he turned questioningly, reminiscent to earlier that morning.

“Could we have… A little talk in a dressing room?”

 

* * *

 

The dressing room, or the dressing rooms, were a series of three smaller rooms for models to change in, the only part of the studio that wasn’t completely open. Each one was spartan in furnishings, with a counter on one wall with a mirror, knobs for hangers on the opposite side, and a single lounge chair at the back.

The two of them shuffled quietly into one, Shiro closing the door behind him. Keith was already fidgeting with his hair, some of his bangs falling back onto his forehead as he leaned against the counter. There was silence between them, both unwilling to start.

“Keith…” Shiro finally said, one hand running over the smooth surface of the counter. “Is there something wrong?”

For once, Keith was avoiding his gaze, pointedly focusing his attention on the chair against the far wall. Shiro felt a shiver run down his spine. For all the heat and attention he had been given just a moment before, this was clearly a cold shoulder. Still he remained silent, waiting for the other to speak.

When Keith finally turned around, his eyebrows were angled into his signature frown. “I just… I just need to know that you’re not just messing around with me.”

Shiro could feel his mouth drop open, confusion blatant on his face. “What- what even, I mean, what brought this on?”

“Because.” Keith crossed his arms, cheeks glowing red. “We were great this morning and all, but then you kept touching Lance.”

Shiro couldn’t help the laughter rising in his throat. “Keith, that’s because Lance was _awful_ this morning. I thought you could tell. There’s absolutely nothing going on between us.”

“Really?” There was something boyish about the way he spoke, as if unwilling to admit his oversight.

“Really.” Shiro replied warmly, his hand now running down the length of Keith’s back.

“Does that mean that you didn’t touch me…” Keith leaned nearer towards him, hands pressed against the counter. “Because I was doing well?”

Oh.

_Oh._

“Was that what you were trying to do?” Shiro murmured. “You were trying to get me to touch you during your solo shoot?”

“Maybe.”

Keith was absolutely irresistible for all of his pouty looks and embarrassed confessions, and so Shiro closed the space between them, lips meeting for a hard kiss that made the model gasp. There was a certain sense of gratification, a pent up release from all the smoldering looks Keith had given to him just before. Shiro nipped at his perfect bottom lip, willing Keith to shudder again.

“Still,” Shiro pulled away, panting. “I didn’t realize you would do all of that just because you were jealous.”

“Shut up.” Keith responded before winding his arms around Shiro’s neck, drawing him in and crushing their mouths together. Shiro’s arms wound tightly around his waist, fingers digging in slightly when the other young man licked teasingly at his mouth. In turn he captured Keith’s bottom lip and sucked, relishing in the way his breath hitched at the sensation, fingers running through his hair.

Shiro felt himself spiraling, heady and intoxicated when they broke apart, his mouth tracing down the column of Keith’s neck and he sighed. Each sound that came from Keith’s mouth felt like its own reward, the taciturn young man left needy and moaning under his touch. If this is what Keith wanted all along, for Shiro to just touch him, maybe it was a crime, a sin, that he hadn’t until now.

Two loud knocks sounded on the door and they flew apart.

“You guys…?” It was Hunk on the other side, hesitant. “Just, reminding Shiro I guess, that you still have a shoot with Lance to do.”

“Right…” Shiro said, mostly to himself between heavy breaths. He looked towards Keith, an apologetic smile playing on his lips.

“Don’t worry about it.” He answered Shiro’s unvoiced question. “It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

Shiro took Keith’s hand into his and squeezed. “Before I go though, I want to make something clear.”

One eyebrow raised slowly. “Yeah?”

“What I said that day, when we went to the museum.” Shiro felt his face flush. He knew he really shouldn’t be this nervous. “I meant it then, I mean it now. I’d like this to be more. If you want, of course.”

An equal redness creeped onto Keith’s cheeks, his eyes bright. “Me too.” He said simply before gracing Shiro with a kiss on the forehead, one that made his heart clench painfully.

“Would you be okay to wait for me until Lance’s shoot is done? Maybe we could grab something to eat after?” He took Keith’s other hand. This time Keith squeezed.

“Sure.”

_Would you like to be my boyfriend? Circle Yes or No_

_Yes_


End file.
